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“The organisation has been compelled to let go of staff in India and pause all its ongoing campaign and research work. This is latest in the incessant witch-hunt of human rights organisations by the Government of India over unfounded and motivated allegations”, Amnesty International India said in a press statement on Tuesday.

Amnesty International India said its bank accounts were frozen on September 10. Amnesty said it had highlighted rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir and riots in Delhi in recent days and the government had sought to punish it for that.

#NEWS: Amnesty International India Halts Its Work On Upholding Human Rights In India Due To Reprisal From Government Of Indiahttps://t.co/W7IbP4CKDq

— Amnesty India (@AIIndia) September 29, 2020

“The continuing crackdown on Amnesty International India over the last two years and the complete freezing of bank accounts is not accidental. The constant harassment by government agencies including the Enforcement Directorate is a result of our unequivocal calls for transparency in the government, more recently for accountability of the Delhi police and the government of India regarding the grave human rights violations in Delhi riots and Jammu and Kashmir. For a movement that has done nothing but raise its voices against injustice, this latest attack is akin to freezing dissent,” said Avinash Kumar, Executive Director of Amnesty International India.

In 2019, Amnesty testified before the US Foreign Affairs Committee during a hearing on human rights in South Asia, where it highlighted its findings about the grave situation of Jammu and Kashmir, which includes arbitrary detentions and the use of excessive force and torture in Kashmir.

The group has faced scrutiny by different government agencies in the country over the past few years.

In August 2016, a case of sedition was filed against Amnesty India over allegations that anti-India slogans were raised at one of its events. Three years later, a court ordered the charges to be dropped.

In October 2018, the group’s offices in the southern city of Bangalore were raided by the Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes. Its accounts were frozen then too, but Amnesty says it was able to access them after seeking a court’s intervention.
In early 2019, the group says dozens of its small donors were sent letters by the country’s income tax department. And later in the same year, Amnesty’s offices were raided again, this time by the Central Bureau of Investigation, based on a case registered by India’s home affairs ministry.

The group said it will continue to fight its legal cases in India.

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Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah has decided to vacate the government residence in which he has been staying since 2002. In a recent tweet, Omar Abdullah revealed that he has taken the decision to vacate the government house at Gupkar road, as the rules of entitlement have changed in the Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir.

It was on last August that the state of Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two UT’s; Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh. Apart from the formation of UTs, the central government also revoked the special status enjoyed by the state.

The former chief minister revealed that he is voluntarily vacating the government residence, and made it clear that the hunt for a new house has already begun.

“My letter to the J&K administration. I will be vacating my government accommodation in Srinagar before the end of October. The point to note is that contrary to stories planted in the media last year, I received no notice to vacate and have chosen to do so of my own accord,” wrote Omar.

Omar revealed that his house-hunting efforts are getting badly affected due to the coronavirus outbreak.

“The process is taking longer because of constraints caused by COVID -19. I intend to complete the process in 8-10 weeks and should be in a position to handover Gupkar road accommodation accordingly,” Omar said.

It should be noted that Gupkar is considered one of the safest places in the city, as there is 24/7 security surveillance in this area. Followers of Abdullah are now eagerly waiting to know where their leader will reside after vacating the government house.

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The total coronavirus cases mounted to 41,13,811, while the death toll climbed to 70,626 with the novel coronavirus virus claiming 1,065 lives in a span of 24 hours in the country, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 case fatality rate due to the coronavirus infection has further declined to 1.72 per cent. There are 8,62,320 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 20.96 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and it went past 40 lakh on September 5.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of 4,88,31,145 samples have been tested up to September 5 with 10,92,654 samples being tested on Saturday.

Of the 1,065 fresh deaths, 312 are from Maharashtra, 128 from Karnataka, 81 from Uttar Pradesh, 71 from Andhra Pradesh, 69 from Punjab, 61 from Tamil Nadu, 58 from West Bengal, 34 from Bihar, 30 from Madhya Pradesh, 25 from Delhi, 22 from Haryana, 19 from Chhattisgarh, 18 each from Puducherry and Uttarakhand, 15 each from Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand.

Fourteen fatalities have been reported from Rajasthan, 11 from Kerala, nine each from Goa and Telangana, eight from Tripura, seven each from Assam and Odisha, four from Himachal Pradesh while Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Manipur and Meghalaya have registered one fatality each.

Of the total 70,626 deaths, Maharashtra has reported the maximum at 26,276 followed by 7,748 in Tamil Nadu, 6,298 in Karnataka, 4,538 in Delhi, 4,347 in Andhra Pradesh, 3,843 in Uttar Pradesh, 3,510 in West Bengal, 3,091 in Gujarat and 1,808 in Punjab.

So far, 1,543 people have died of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh, 1,122 in Rajasthan, 886 in Telangana, 781 in Haryana, 770 in Jammu and Kashmir, 735 in Bihar, 538 in Odisha, 462 in Jharkhand, 356 in Chhattisgarh, 352 in Assam, 337 in Kerala and 330 in Uttarakhand.

Puducherry has registered 298 fatalities, Goa 229, Tripura 144, Chandigarh 69, Himachal Pradesh 54, Andaman and Nicobar Islands 50, Manipur 36, Ladakh 35, Meghalaya 15, Nagaland 10, Arunachal Pradesh eight, Sikkim five and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu two.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that State-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

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The online forms have been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of External Affairs and Governments of various States and union territories, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttrakhand and Madhya Pradesh among others. According to the MoCA guidelines, this facility will be available for all international arriving passengers from August 8, 2020.

This will help in making passengers’ journey more convenient and comfortable in a contactless way as they won’t have to fill the physical copies of the forms on arrival. Delhi Airport continues to be a hub for international travel. With India establishing air bubble with several countries, the number of international arrivals is likely to go up. Then, this new online self-declaration and quarantine exemption portal will prove to be beneficial for the government officials in taking a swift and informed decision on granting exemption or know the latest health condition of the international arriving passenger.

Passengers seeking exemption under the five specific categories will need to fill the e-form available on the website of Delhi Airport “www.newdelhiairport.in”. They will have to submit it along with supporting documents, including copy of their passports, at least 72 hours before boarding their flights. However, there is no such time capping for passengers filling for the Self-Declaration form.

This process will help passengers avoid the hassle of providing the same set of information and documents to different authorities multiple times as online portal has the smart option to autofill the second application using the previous application’s request number. All applications will get auto-routed to the respective state government depending upon the first port of arrival. Similarly, all self-declaration applications will be routed to Airport Health Organisation (APHO), under Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

A copy of approval or rejection of exemption requests on specific grounds will be emailed to the passengers. Those who would be given exemption from mandatory institutional quarantine can show the same at the transfer area after landing at Delhi Airport, and walk out of the airport hassle-free. This process would not only help the flyers, who can seek exemptions, but also the authorities in completing the requisite formalities faster, and reduce congestions at the arrival hall of the Airports.

Passengers would be considered for exemption only if they fall under any one of the five exempted categories – Pregnant women, People whose kin died recently, people from serious illness (Description to be provided), parents accompanied by children below 10 years and COVID-19 negative in recent RT-PCR test.  Airlines may also notify passengers at the time of reservation that the receiving Indian State Government(s) may authorise exemptions from institutional quarantine for five specific categories on a case-to-case basis.

Commenting on this development,. Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, CEO-DIAL, said “COVID-19 has certainly changed the way Delhi Airport operates. The focus of our activities remains on the safety and convenience of our passengers. Keeping in view the inconvenience faced by arriving international passengers during this pandemic situation, Delhi Airport has associated with the Government of India to take an initiative that is crucial for the well-being of all international arriving passengers, who are waiting to come back to India. Having an approved exemption form will not only ease the quarantine process, but also mitigate the problem of inordinate delay while queuing up for quarantine process. Further, passengers can also avoid the hassle of the filling physical copies of the self-declaration twice.”

Ms Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA, appreciated the Delhi Airport’s initiative and said, “It’s been a while since international repatriation service resumed in India. Passengers are planning to travel for various reasons on limited international flights during the pandemic. MoCA appreciates Delhi Airport’s contribution in helping digitise and streamline this process of health self-declaration and exempting passengers. E-platform prepared by DIAL would be used by all airports in the country and help the States/ health authorities to fast track the process of clearances for international arrivals. This will further facilitate to scale up the number of flights handled at Indian airports.”

According to the current government mandate, all passengers arriving by international flights in India must undergo seven days institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by seven days of home quarantine. It is mandatory for international arriving passengers to undergo health screening by APHO. This includes thermal temperature screening by discreetly mounted, highly accurate, mass screening cameras.

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